South GB or South UK
We would like to make it clear to you that as 2 retired Dutch people we enjoyed the visit to the South of England enormously. The people are very very friendly and helpful. GB can be proud of this region.
What we do want to say to your readers is that the campsites cannot meet the standard on the mainland and there is therefore a lot of work for the CAMC organization. Prices are also too high for food and entrance fees to events and museums or other attractive attractions. Cycling is extremely difficult unless you are allowed on an old railway track. Also driving by car with caravan was often with roads with high hedges so that you can not enjoy the environment for 80% and if there was a P somewhere you could not see anything. GB hangs too much on the importance of old Castles and Churches when there is much more than that. The next time we go to GB it will be to Wales.
Moderator Comment - As this seems more of a general comment than an actual Story (Blog) I have moved it to the Discussion area
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You will probably find the roads in Wales are similar to England and its also famous for it's castles, be prepared to see more history!
(It was 1066 that did it, the conquering French made us build castles, so you can blame the Normans for that idea....
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What site(s) are you referring to?
Well interesting post, we don't usually get reviews on a country or even part of it. I'm sorry that this sceptered isle has not met with your approval.
As to food prices they are what the are not much we can do about it.
From personal experience I've found sites in Italy just a variable as over here and no better or worse than CAMC sites. Again having a sister in law who is Welsh and lives there I can tell you nothing will be different in Wales so all in all it is probably best if you steer clear of the whole of the UK? Not meant in any nasty way but I can promise you it will not be any cheaper for food, or roads better, and prices for places any cheaper in Wales or any part of the UK.
PS is there a way to get to Wales apart from going through England from where you are?
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"PS is there a way to get to Wales apart from going through England from where you are?"
Yes, through France, ferry to Eire and another ferry across the Irish Sea to Wales👍🏻
Well, KK, I’m sorry you didn’t like our country but that’s England for you and I can’t envisage you liking Wales or Scotland any more than England. In the UK we have a lot of narrow lanes with high hedges in rural areas. Perhaps you thought it would be like Holland? Nope, it’s chalk and Gouda.
May I suggest a little more research next trip? 🙂
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Thank you for your comments. Always nice and good to get someone else's perspective on costs and how they view the UK in general.
I have just returned to the UK from a 5 week tour through your own Netherlands staying at 8 different campsites and would make some observations as to comparative costs.
Firstly campsites. I assume that you only used CAMC campsites. They generally provide a uniform approach across the whole network and are well known for being well run and usually of a good to high standard. Prices do in my own opinion tend to be too high and so I generally do not use them a great deal. I have over 30 years of caravanning stayed on over half of the Clubs network at one time or another but now restrict my stays to just 1 or 2 sites a year. As you are a member of the club why not research Certificate Locations (or CLs as they are known). These are Kleine Kampeer type sites, allowing only 5 units on as a maximum. They are all individually run by the owner but licensed by the club to operate so standards can vary. Read reviews and look at any websites the owners have. You will find enormous variety both with services provided and prices charged. We do the same when using SVR sites in the Netherlands. Sites in this country tend to run at least 10 amps and on club sites at 16 amps as opposed to mainly 6 amps in Netherlands. We didn't find it a problem and to be honest didn't "compare" with what we had at "home". Why compare? You are on holiday in the UK not the Netherlands. We also were happy with leaving our car in a car park and not next to the caravan whereas that doesn't happen very often here in the UK. Again we always say "When in Rome do as the Romans do". I am not the greatest supporter of CAMC sites but I do not agree with you that they are not up to the standard found abroad. We have found sites in the Netherlands to be generally good but not exceptional. A lot like sites in the UK.
Costs of living. Yes food prices are high but again we spent no more than we would do at home in 5 weeks in your country than we would do here. Entry fees to houses and castles can be expensive but there are ways you can reduce them if you intend to visit more than say 2. Pay an annual membership fee just like you did to join CAMC. Do research. We travelled over to Schiermonikoog from Lauwersoog and it cost us €57 for 2 adults plus €6 car parking. A similar journey to the Isle of White, a much bigger island and longer journey time would be about the same cost. Entry to Hoge Veulewe National Park is also about €50. This allows entry to the Kröller-Müller museum and this entry fee is more than I would pay for 2 adults to a comparable museum so I do not think you are being fair in just criticising our fees.
Hedges and Lanes. Aahhh. Yes you have me there. The roads in the Netherlands are a credit to your country, whereas the roads in our country are a shame and a blight on us. Hedges tend not to be cut for various reasons some of them environmental, such as allowing birds to continue nesting and are only cut at the end of the summer. Some are traditional in southern counties mostly. Some act as a wind barrier, something the Netherlands could do with in my opinion.
Don't mention the cycling. Just rejoice you have a wonderful system and be grateful for it. Remember it was only introduced due to horrific mortality rates amongst Dutch cyclists on the roads and those far sighted politicians of yours should be commended.
Overall let me say "Dank u wel" for your feedback. I enjoyed our visit to your country and just treated it as something completely different from our own. We will be back.
I live in Wales and if you do venture over here you will see many castles, built mostly by English Kings to "control" the natives. Start a thread in UK touring section of this forum if you want information on what to see and where to go in Wales and I will be willing to offer any assistance I can.
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KipKompakt
You are probably long back in the Netherlands by now and I am not sure if you are monitoring replies to your post. Always interesting to get a perspective from overseas visitors on their reflections of visits to the UK. Over the years we have been fairly regular visitors to the Netherlands (usually en route to Germany) so I am unsure about your comparisons. OK I suspect many might agree that Club sites are expensive, and coming from a country with many discount schemes, you would notice the difference. However campsites here usually enjoy multi season use so there is no need to offer discounts which essentially to fill unused capacity. It would be interesting for you to give more specific reason as to why you feel the Club is falling behind Continental sites as I was a bit puzzled by your comments. Sites in different countries are often "different" but that does not automatically mean they are better.
As for cycling I think we would all accept that the UK is probably light years behind the Netherlands in the provision for and respect shown to cyclists. Provision in this country is gradually improving but much of it is centred on bigger towns and cities. My own City of Milton Keynes has excellent provisions for off road cycling but it was designed that way, many places weren't.
As far as costs are concerned how does one compare. One of your fellow countryman told me how much he paid in car tax which was several times more than I was paying for a similar sized car so as we say often swings and roundabouts!
Hope you come back to enjoy Wales.
David
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We are currently 4 + weeks into NL holiday.
Food prices 10-15% higher than UK.
Site fees in line with France, that is substantially less than UK.
Pitches variable in size.
Facilities in line with France, that is far better than UK.
Cycling is a joy. The UK is an embarrassment.
Cost to art galleries etc no real difference to UK.
Colin
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You need to venture further North in England. And don’t rely on Caravan Club sites, there are others much nicer and better value. Living in Yorkshire, we always find that we pay more for most things in the SE.
Whether or not you enjoy history and churches will be a personal thing, but certainly in the North of England landscape and coastline are what brings a lot of tourists into the area, along with our rich industrial heritage.
Oh to enjoy the cycling infrastructure of our Dutch neighbours, this country is indeed light years away from such. However, we do have iconic routes that brought the Tour de France to this country, and saw some record breaking crowds. These aren’t tourist based, more for the fit and dedicated cyclists. City cycling provision is abysmal.
Dont knock the hedges and high walls. They provide wildlife refuges, shelter for domestic animals, and are a historical feature in themselves, being varied in different areas, and a skill in themselves to construct. Hedges in the UK are protected, they are nesting havens for our songbirds and as such are not usually cut until September.
I am sure every nation has its attractive and less attractive features, and certainly has different instances of value for money. Once a better understanding of some of these differences is secured, perhaps it will encourage you to come back again. Having followed the adventures of a few who have been to the Netherlands, it would be a place we would consider visiting, but we would do a lot of research before heading over to you. 🙂
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We are in Wales at the moment and have notice quite a number of Dutch M/Hs touring the areas that we have visited. Perhaps they too have read your post on here and are following your suggestions.
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We recently saw a lot of Swiss MHs out and about in Dumfries and Galloway, so good to see that overseas visitors are returning👍
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I've always thought that the point of international travel is to experience the differences, good and bad, that other countries have with our own.
If we bulldozed the castles and pulled up the hedgerows, it wouldn't be England (or Wales, or Scotland)
My advice is to buy an OS map, put on some walking boots, park in the 'P' and explore the vast network of Public Footpaths that this country has to offer
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Hi KipK, Well done for attempting to put across, in another language , your thoughts on your visit!
I write this sitting on a site in Colchester just off the ferry from Hoak van Holland and as you say one if the advantages of a trip abroad, particularly to pan flat Holland, is the superb wide ranging views but, as said, that’s why we go abroad to enjoy these things.
Some of your compatriots clearly disagree with the difficulty of cycling as a couple, probably 70+M that we saw cycle onboard when asked their plans said “ oh, a little each day…………to Lands End!
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What the OP has not explained is this which by any measure is a very sweeping statement, "What we do want to say to your readers is that the campsites cannot meet the standard on the mainland and there is therefore a lot of work for the CAMC organization" Perhaps the OP doesn't like hardstandings which are rare in Europe? I imagine something has been lost in translation and he doesn't mean what he appears to mean? I say that as someone who has stayed on about 250 campsites in Europe, about 8 of those in the Netherlands. Whilst campsites in Europe are different the question of whether they are better is questionable in my experience but then it depends how the OP is making his judgement? We might all agree about the cost of sites here but it doesn't seem to put off our chums from the Netherlands and Germany coming here, saw quite a few in the West Country.
David
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